On to Vass, NC

Happy Spring–it felt like it yesterday. We started Wednesday off by visiting the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy, Virginia. He was born in 1856 to a slave, his mother was the cook at a small tobacco plantation. He was freed there after the Emancipation Proclamation, taught himself to read, went to school and became an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute. It was a pretty day and a quiet peaceful spot. This was a shorter drive day, we headed to Vass, North Carolina to visit Jim’s childhood friend and neighbor, who was also his college roommate. Bob and Marianne both graduated from Dartmouth with Jim. They live in a horse community, their home is a hunt box, with a stable underneath for their four horses.

Marianne took us into Southern Pines on Thursday. We walked the lovely town and enjoyed the artistically decorated horses throughout the town. Then geocaching brought us to the Sandhill Horticultural Center, which Marianne did not know about. We walked the early garden and saw some early flowers, lenten rose, daffodils, rosemary, camellias to name a few. After lunch we headed to Pinehurst and went to the World Golf Hall of Fame. It was fun to spend an hour or so reading about golfers we remembered. We were going to walk over to the Pinehurst Golf Club, but it was pouring rain. I was disappointed not to be able to see the Payne Stewart statue. Had a great dinner celebrating 78 day with the 78’s.

We got an early start this morning, as it was a long day. We finished listening to The Wager by David Grann, an interesting story of high seas adventures in the 1700’s. We started Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate in One Year, having enjoyed his Taste last year. It was a 370 mile day, and here we are at Crooked River State Park in St. Marys, Georgia, right on the Florida border. After settling in we headed into town to the Friday Fish Fry (for Lent) at the Catholic Church in town, stopped at the grocery store and headed home. We just have tomorrow here and don’t want to go far, so won’t head to Jeckyl or Amelia Island or Cumberland Island. We’ll have to come back and stay longer to explore more next time.